


The brightness of the sun (will give me just enough)

by SquaresAreNotCircles



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Pet Names
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 03:04:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14179149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquaresAreNotCircles/pseuds/SquaresAreNotCircles
Summary: Magnus leans up for a quick peck, they share a smile, and Alec watches him walk away. It’s only when Magnus has rounded the corner and is out of sight that Alec tries to tune back in to the demon hunting discussion, which turns out to be harder than expected, because it’s fallen silent. All eyes are on him.“You guys are so cute,” Izzy says – coos, really.“Yeah, honey sweetie pie!” Jace chimes in. “So sweet.”Or: 5 times Magnus uses terms of endearment for Alec + 1 time it’s the other way around





	The brightness of the sun (will give me just enough)

**Author's Note:**

> this was going to be a really short thing, because i'm cheating on my camp nano project, but then it grew and now it’s 2.7k and i don’t even usually really like pet names especially in fic but?? these two are just so in love and it works, somehow, and apparently i’m so deep into ship hell this happened anyway and i’m so mad
> 
> but yeah! this is 100% just pure fluff and silliness and if it seems like it’s actually going somewhere, it probably isn’t. i hope it’s still fun, because i sure had a lot writing it!
> 
> title is from the lyrics for moondust by jaymes young, and honestly isn’t very relevant to the fic but sounded pretty cool, i thought.

1.

Shadowhunters get hurt during missions. It’s a fact of life, and in all his years on the job Alec has gotten pretty used to gritting his teeth and drawing an iratze, but that’s a little harder if he gets knocked out.

Which is what happened, apparently. It’s a little embarrassing.

Mostly, though, his first thought after waking up is for Magnus. He’s about to call for him, when the face he’d been thinking of pops into his view, makeup and carefully styled hair still impeccable, but looking more relieved than Alec likes seeing him. It means he’d frightened Magnus pretty badly.

“Alexander!” Magnus smiles at him and takes one of his hands between both of his own. It brings Alec a sudden awareness of the existence of his body, which feels like it’s still sore pretty much all over from when the demon’s tail hit him square in the chest and flung him across the alley. He still thinks the handholding is worth it. “You have no idea how good it is to see those beautiful brown eyes.”

He has to lick his lips and try to swallow twice before his voice can be convinced to work with him. “Hey. Are you okay?”

Magnus laughs, incredulous, and it clears some of the worry lines from his face. “Am I okay? You’re the one who had us all worried. Jace and Clary are in the other room, and Izzy is on her way here.”

‘Here’ appears to be Magnus’s loft, now that Alec is a little more awake. It makes sense, because they’d been much closer to Magnus’s than to the institute. At the news that they’d even called in his sister, who was supposed to have a day off for the first time in weeks, Alec frowns and groans. “That’s so unnecessary,” he protests, trying to sit up in the bed. “I’m fine, really -”

Two hands on his shoulders stop him. Alec might have been stubborn and objected, but that’s when it happens for the first time. “No, darling,” Magnus says. “You were out of it for a while, so save your strength and stay down a little longer. Just this once.”

_Darling._

Alec is too fascinated to even remember to put up a token struggle. He sinks back down into the cushions without a word and Magnus looks surprised as well, but is clearly satisfied. 

“Alright, well,” he says. “Your parabatai probably already knows you’re awake, but I’ll go get him and Clary.”

Magnus does just that, disappearing with a last gentle touch to Alec’s cheek, leaving Alec to mull over his feelings about pet names.

-

2.

The second time is a lot less stressful. They’re at Magnus’s loft, again, where he has been spending almost all of his nights, recently. It’s not night now, though. It’s late afternoon, the institute was having a slow day, and there’s no reason he couldn’t do some of his paperwork on the couch next to his boyfriend, instead of in his cold, empty office.

He’s brewed some coffee (one black, one with milk and two sugars) and he sets one of the mugs on the coffee table in front of Magnus, who is engrossed in his own administrative work, working with old fashioned pen and paper instead of a tablet. 

“Your coffee.”

Magnus looks up and reaches out to touch his arm when he sits down again. “Thank you, sugar. You’re too sweet.”

Alec tries not to let on how Magnus’s casual use of another term of endearment makes his stomach flip. This wasn’t even a life or death situation; there could hardly be anything more mundane than this. He hides his face behind his coffee cup and snorts. “I think you’re confusing me with your drink.”

“Tall, dark and tasty. It’s possible,” Magnus concedes.

That makes Alec nearly spit a mouthful of coffee back into his own mug, which in turn makes Magnus laugh. It’s a good, warm sound, that nestles in Alec’s chest.

-

3.

Alec is with Clary and Jace in the main hall of the institute by one of the workstations, discussing the demon they’ve been hunting for the past two days. Jace is in the middle of saying something about the best plan of attack while still unsure of exactly what they’re fighting, when Alec becomes aware of Magnus gliding towards him, followed closely by Isabelle. They’d been in a different corner, going over Izzy’s autopsy results from the two victims thus far.

He is immediately distracted, and doesn’t even bother trying to look like he’s still listening to a word Jace says. He turns towards Magnus and Magnus comes to stand just a step too close to him to leave room for personal space. Not that Alec would ever think about complaining.

“Did you find anything interesting?”

Magnus waves an elegant hand. His nail polish is a dark purple today, matching his (very tight, Alec couldn’t help but notice) pants. “Izzy will catch you up. We think we finally know what kind of demon it is, and I need to stock up on some supplies, just in case. I’ll see you again tonight? Dinner at my place?” 

“That sounds great.” 

“Okay, good.” Magnus’s hand lands on Alec’s chest. Even after months of dating, Alec is still impressed at how he can make small touches like that seem completely natural and casual. He doesn’t think he’ll ever be that smooth, but it’s a very Magnus thing. “Bye, honey.” 

Alec nods. “See you tonight.”

Magnus leans up for a quick peck, they share a smile, and Alec watches him walk away. It’s only when Magnus has rounded the corner and is out of sight that Alec tries to tune back in to the demon hunting discussion, which turns out to be harder than expected, because it’s fallen silent. All eyes are on him. 

“You guys are so cute,” Izzy says – coos, really.

“Yeah, honey sweetie pie!” Jace chimes in. “So sweet.”

Clary elbows Jace for that, which Alec appreciates, but the teasing affects him less than he thought it would. He might have some more color on his cheeks than normal, but his heart is warm and he feels good, and no amount of amusement Jace gets from this can take that from him.

He folds his hands behind his back and frowns, though he knows it probably doesn’t look very convincing. He can still feel exactly where Magnus touched him. “I think we should get back to the mission at hand.”

“Absolutely, kitten,” Jace says, and even Isabelle has to cover her mouth at that one. Alec rolls his eyes. “Pull up the next slide for me?”

“Sure, poopsie,” Alec says, deadpan. He does pull up the slide, but it goes unnoticed for the next five minutes as Jace sputters and Isabelle and Clary end up clutching at each other to keep from falling to the floor, laughing.

-

4.

By the time Magnus returns with coffee and bagels, as the note he’d left Alec had promised, Alec is up and idly flipping through the channels on Magnus’s television. He doesn’t understand much about mundane entertainment, but it’s darkly fascinating to watch some guy try to sell him ridiculously overpriced stuff that he’s sure he will never need even once in his life.

“Good morning!” Magnus calls, when he enters and spots Alec on the couch.

Alec mutes the TV and sits up straight, interested in the bag Magnus is carrying. “Morning. You brought breakfast?”

“I did. Wouldn’t want my favorite Shadowhunter to go hungry, especially considering how much of a personal interest I have in keeping up your strength.”

Alec accepts the cup Magnus hands him with a word of thanks and takes a sip of coffee, but then sets it aside to open the paper bag. He falters when he takes notice of the deliberate way Magnus is looking him up and down.

“My, Mr. Lightwood,” Magnus says, a smile on his lips, “is that a new shirt?” 

Alec looks down at himself and tugs on the hem of the t-shirt. “Oh, right. You kind of, eh, vanished mine last night, and I wasn’t sure where to, so I took something of yours. Do you mind?”

It’s a little tight on him, but it was the only plain black top that looked like it would fit him and wasn’t cropped – midriff-bearing looks worked on people like Magnus or Izzy, but he wasn’t entirely comfortable with that on himself (yet, perhaps? who knew). The only drawback of this shirt, for Alec and his usual clothing style anyway, was the bold, white print on the front. 

_BRAINS. BEAUTY. BOOTY._

He’d hesitated over that for a while, but ultimately decided it was still better than potentially having to walk back to the institute shirtless. 

“Mind?” Magnus asks, apparently giving up on trying not to look highly amused. “Of course not. It looks good on you, babe.”

“Thanks. I think.” 

Magnus grins at him. He’s taken over fumbling with the paper bag, and offers Alec a blueberry bagel, which he takes.

“Brains, beauty, booty and blueberry bagels.” And babe, but he can’t quite bring himself to add that out loud.

“Beautiful.” Magnus takes a cheddar bagel for himself. “Also alliterative.” 

“Astonishing,” Alec says with his mouth full, just to be an ass.

“Alexander,” Magnus says, half chastising, half fond. It’s still far kinder than the other a-word he could have used.

“That’s not fair. Your name doesn’t start with an A.”

Magnus just takes a bite of his own bagel, grinning again. Alec can’t help but do the same.

-

5\. 

It starts with a very wholesome, honest plan for a dinner date. Then Alec arrives at Magnus’s loft to pick him up, and it isn’t far, they can walk, but they kind of hover in the doorway first because Magnus is wearing something extra sparkly and Alec is pretty sure there’s some lipgloss and (possibly literal) makeup magic involved, but whatever it is, he has an even harder time looking away than usual. He tell Magnus as much, because there’s no sense in hiding how much he appreciates the way his boyfriend looks, especially because it always makes Magnus smile and that’s one of Alec’s favorite things in the world. Complimenting Magnus is almost selfish, really. Magnus responds by stepping closer and drawing him in for a kiss, and that’s okay, it’s good, it’s really great. 

Alec still isn’t sure how they eventually ended up on the couch, because they didn’t really have time to sit down if they want to make their reservation. That’s the point where the wholesomeness kind of leaves through the window, quietly and without either of them giving a shit. Magnus is straddling Alec and working on the buttons of Alec’s shirt when Alec realizes that right that second, he doesn’t care about quite a lot of things, among which restaurant reservations.

He slides a hand into Magnus’s hair, always soft despite its spikey appearance. Magic is so useful.

“Maybe we should -” Alec’s train of thought is briefly interrupted when Magnus kisses his neck. He tilts his head to allow for better access even as he tries to remember what he was saying. “Maybe we should skip dinner.”

Magnus’s lips leave Alec’s skin, and the only reason Alec doesn’t verbally protest is that Magnus’s hands stay where they are. One is pushing up Alec’s half-buttoned shirt and the other is now on his cheek, gentle and almost innocent, despite the heated atmosphere. “Alexander, my love, I knew there was a reason I fell for you.”

Alec can feel some heat rising to his cheeks, but he ignores the pleasant flip his stomach does, still. He does smile and card his fingers through Magnus’s hair, because he can’t help himself. “You like me because I'm not hungry?”

“No,” Magnus says, and it does something to Alec’s heart how close to happy giggles he sounds, “I love you because you’re a genius under that pretty exterior.”

“I love you too.”

They’re being very sappy, and Alec knows it, but he again doesn’t care. Not when he has Magnus in his lap, warm and dazzling, and it leads to soft kisses which return to something more urgent when Magnus’s hand under Alec’s shirt starts wandering again.

In the end, they miss their dinner reservation by a couple of hours, so they order a pizza and eat it in bed. Restaurants are overrated anyway.

-

+1.

Alec wakes up first, which is rare enough that he takes a moment to just watch Magnus sleep. He looks so relaxed; no less magical, but strikingly calm. He’s never usually this still and loose, and without his glittery makeup it’s like he’s put down a layer of armor.

Eventually, though, he knows he has to wake Magnus, so he’ll have enough time for his entire morning routine. They’re supposed to meet Catarina and Madzie for brunch in a little over an hour. Alec scoots his own pillow a little closer to Magnus’s. They’re both on their sides, facing each other, but Magnus’s eyes are still closed and his breathing is deep and even.

“Magnus,” Alec whispers. 

Magnus shifts a little, as if responding to Alec’s voice, but otherwise doesn’t react.

Alec brings his hand to Magnus’s cheek, stroking his thumb over Magnus’s cheekbone. He doesn’t dare speak much louder than he did before. It would feel like shouting in a library, and his goal isn’t to scare Magnus awake. “Hey, wake up.” 

It’s probably the touch more than his voice that does it, but Magnus finally stirs awake. His eyes open, but they’re still unglamored and shimmering gold and none of the looseness has left his body yet. He half smiles and yawns and it’s possibly the cutest thing Alec has ever seen another person do.

“Hey,” he repeats, nonsensically. “Good morning, angel.”

Suddenly, some of the hazy, simple happiness of the moment seems to evaporate, as they both realize what he just said. Magnus blinks a couple of times and then just stares at Alec with his golden eyes for long enough it becomes a little unnerving. Alec doesn’t know what to make of his expression, especially half hidden in the pillow.

He swallows, suddenly nervous. “I’m sorry. Was that bad?”

Magnus’s hand reaches Alec’s way over the covers. It doesn’t really seem to know where it wants to go, but it settles on the arm attached to the hand that’s still on Magnus’s cheek. “No. Unexpected.” His voice is still a little husky from sleep, but he’s smiling now, a genuine, open thing. “I know I’ve said this before, but you never cease to amaze me, Alexander. You’re the one with the angel blood.”

“That’s not the point.”

Magnus turns his head to kiss the palm of Alec’s hand, soft and sweet, the way Alec feels. He settles Alec’s hand back on his face after and covers it with his own hand, and Alec melts, and his parents were unexpectedly right. Warlocks really are very dangerous, because soon all that’ll be left of him will be a little puddle of shadowhunter and someone will have to come and mop him up and it will all be very sad because puddles don’t have hands to touch Magnus. Alec can’t imagine anything more heartbreaking.

“I have to admit ‘morning, greater demon’ would have sounded somewhat less endearing,” Magnus says, after a couple of beats.

“Somewhat. I’d still say it if it made you happy.”

That startles a laugh out of Magnus. “I don’t think so.”

“Good, because I’d also be a little worried.”

“How long do we have until we’re meeting Catarina and Mads?”

Alec could check his phone for an exact answer, but it would mean letting go of Magnus, which he isn’t willing to do a second before he has to. “About sixty minutes.”

“Hmm. If we portal there, we only need forty-five.”

“Which leaves us with fifteen minutes to spare. Were you planning to take a nap?”

It’s not a very serious question, but the way Magnus is already letting his body tip forward and into Alec’s (and the way Alec responds by drawing him closer) defeats the purpose entirely. He still answers. “Not exactly, honey, no.”

Then Alec kisses him, and there are no more words for a while.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! comments always make my day, because i love hearing what you thought. <3
> 
> you can also find me on tumblr under [itwoodbeprefect](https://itwoodbeprefect.tumblr.com/). i'm very multifandom, but there's lots of shadowhunter stuff going on there at the moment, with season 3 airing.


End file.
